Supporting undergarment



Aug. 13, 1957 c. BROWN SUPPORTING UNDERGARMENT Filed may 23, 1955 .INVENTQR.

CAROLINE BROWN ATTORNEY limited States This invention relates to an abdominal supporting undergarment for men and women including a detachable suspensory, of novel construction, for the male genitals.

Abdominal supporting garments, such as girdles, etc. must be designed to exert a proper persuasive pressure on the pelvic structure to maintain it in proper orientation relative to the spinal structure. When designed for use by men, they should include proper supporting means for the dependent genital organs.

Such garments, as hitherto provided, have been lacking in some of the desirable features or else have been characterized by discomfort in warm weather, insufficient launderability without deterioration, and difliculty in donning or removing. Furthermore, their construction has been such as to present considerable inconvenience in attending to bodily elimination functions.

In accordance with the present invention, a supporting undergarment is provided which acts on the cantilever or arch principle in providing abdominal and pelvic support and which comprises two complementary sections each comprising a waist or abdominal band, of flexible material, and an attached thigh band, likewise of flexible material. The waist bands of the two sections overlap and complement each other, and may be suitably seamed together at one or more zones.

Each thigh band encircles a different thigh, so that the composite garment exerts opposed cross pulls persuasively reminding the wearer to hold his or her person erect with the pelvis properly oriented relative to the spine. The construction preferably is such that each thigh band is joined to its waist band only by a piece on the outer side of the thigh, thus leaving the inner side open to provide an open crotch. This is of great convenience when using the toilet.

A feature of the invention is a detachable suspensory of light weight, flexible and porous material which may be easily removed from the girdle for more frequent laundering. This pouch is characterized by front and side walls and a bottom pocket, but is open at the rear and at the top. The top opening facilitates easy access for urinating, and the open back allows the organs to assume a normal position during a stool. A roll of soft, washable material is secured transversely of the inside of the front wall, intermediate its height, forming separate supporting portions for the scrotum and the penis in any relative position.

For an understanding of the invention principles, reference is made to the following description of a typical embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing. In the drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 are front elevation views of the two complementary sections of the undergarment;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation view of the assembled garment; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are front and side elevations, respec tively, of the detachable suspensory.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the undergarment of the invention comprises two complementary sections atent 1 and 15 of flexible, resilient, light weight mesh or porous material. 'Each section 15., 15' comprises a waist band portion 11, 11 joined to a thigh band portion 16, 16" by a vertical outside portion 12, 12. A hem or border 13,13 extends around the top of each waist band portion 11, 11, and a hem or border 17, 17 extends around the lower edge of each thigh band portion 16, 16.

The waist band portions are .cut on a bias so as to have outwardly and downwardly sloping partial bottom border edges 14, 14' joined by vertical borders 18, 18' to partial upper borders 19, 19 on thigh bands 16, 16. Outside portions 12, 12 thus extend only part way around the thighs, having open inner sides providing an open crotch 20 when pieces or sections 15, 15' are joined in overlapping relation as shown in Fig. 3.

This open crotch is a great convenience when using bathroom facilities. Furthermore, it does not detract from the support strength of the garment, due to the cantilever support action of the complementary sections 15, 15'.

For use of garment 10 by a male, the front wall of each section 15, 15 carries two or more fastener ele ments 21, 21' cooperable with mating fastener elements 22 on a detachable suspensory shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This suspensory is formed of light Weight, stretchable mesh or porous fabric, and is of one piece construction. It is bounded by a hem or border 31 having wings or flaps 32. Suspensory 30 is so shaped as to have a front wall 34, with adjacent side walls, and a rearwardly extending bottom pocket 33. It is open at the top and rear.

Intermediate the height of wall 34, a roll 35 of soft washable material is secured to extend transversely of wall 34. Roll 35 effectively divides the suspensory into two compartments, the lower of which supports the scrotum and the upper of which supports the penis.

To relieve the kidneys, the upper edge of suspensory 3i) is pulled out and down for easy access to the penis. When the wearer is seated on a stool, the pocket 30 may be pulled forwardly to permit the organs to assume their normal position.

While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is: a

1. .An undergarment comprising, in combination, two mating complementary sections of stretchable lightweight material, each section comprising a unitary assembly of at waist band portion adapted to encircle the waist of a wearer, a thigh band portion adapted to encircle a thigh of the wearer, and a portion connecting said two band portions and adapted to engage only the outer side of the thigh, whereby to provide an open crotch at the inner sides of the thigh; means interconnecting the waist band portions of the two sections to form a unitary garment having thigh bandportions each encircling a different thigh; a suspensory support for the male genitals; and cooperable disengageable fastening means on said support and the front surfaces of said waist band portions for detachably connecting said support to said sections, said support being formed of easily launderable, absorbent, stretchable, lightweight material.

2. An undergarment as claimed in claim 1 in which said support includes a front wall securable only at its side edges to said waist band portions to provide an open upper end for said support, and a rearwardly open pocket on the lower end of said wall and free from attachment to said waist band portions.

3. An undergarment as claimed in claim 2 including a roll of soft absorbent material extending transversely of the inner surface of said front wall to divide said support into an upper, penis-supporting compartment and a lower scrotum-supporting compartment.

4. An undergarment as claimed in claim 1 in which saidwaist bands have an upper endless horizontal edge margin and a. lower. edge marginsloping downwardly and inwardly. t -1' v 7 5.An' undergarment as claimed in claim 1 in which said waist bands have, an upper endless horizontal edge 4 7 margin and a lower edge margin sloping downwardly and inwardly merging with vertical edges of said connecting portions extending to a horizontal upper inner edge margin of each thigh band portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,424,698 Lewis July 29, 1947 

